Jumbo Floating Restaurant Leaving Hongkong After 45 Years; Actress Selena Lee Posts Pic Bidding Farewell To The Landmark - 8days Skip to main content

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Jumbo Floating Restaurant Leaving Hongkong After 45 Years; Actress Selena Lee Posts Pic Bidding Farewell To The Landmark

Another iconic Hongkong attraction gone.

Jumbo Floating Restaurant Leaving Hongkong After 45 Years;  Actress Selena Lee Posts Pic Bidding Farewell To The Landmark

Remember when Hongkong veteran actor Sammo Hung talked about the closure of Kowloon City Market and said that "there's disappointment everywhere" in Hongkong now? 

Well, here's another closure that would make Hongkongers and tourists sigh.

The Jumbo Floating Restaurant, which has been around since it was opened by late Casino King Stanley Ho in 1976, will be leaving Hongkong and towed away from its home in Sham Wan this month.

The floating restaurant, which was once the biggest of its kind, has been closed since 2020 due to the pandemic. 

Its parent company, Aberdeen Restaurant Enterprises, also failed to find a willing organisation to take over the restaurant. This was in spite of them offering to donate it at no profit. 

Maintenance costs for the restaurant were just too high, with the company reporting losses of more than HK$100mil (S$17 million ) since its closure.

Hongkong-based Canadian actress Selena Lee, 41, who has been on hiatus from since her autoimmune disease diagnosis late last year, recently took to her Instagram to post a picture of herself with the restaurant.

She wrote: "Sad to see Jumbo leaving this month. Thank you and you will be missed. Bye Jumbo."

Many netizens chimed in on her post, mourning the loss of yet another iconic Hongkong landmark. 

Veteran actor Law Kar Ying in a scene of God of Cookery (1996), which was partly filmed at the famed restaurant

Jumbo Kingdom, which consists of Jumbo Floating Restaurant and its adjacent Tai Pak Floating Restaurant, hosted some really famous stars during its glory days. 

Queen Elizabeth II, Tom Cruise, Gong Li and Chow Yun Fat have all dined there before.

The venue also appeared in many popular movies, most notably, Stephen Chow's The God of Cookery, which filmed its last cooking competition scene at the restaurant.

Here's what the restaurant used to look like in its glory days

On May 31, a few days after Jumbo Floating Restaurant's slated move was announced, its kitchen barge, which is a separate vessel that sits behind the boat, capsized. Thankfully, no one was hurt during the incident. 

Though a few of Hongkong's lawmakers have launched a petition to plead with the government to come up with a plan to keep the landmark, it seems that the fate of the floating restaurant is still sealed... for now.

 

Fans of the beautiful, expansive landmark can't bear to see it go

Photos: Selena Lee/ Instagram, Chinapress, HK01, Jumbo Kingdom Website

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